Suvarnabhumi

Suvarnabhumi

Suvarṇabhumī (Pali Suvaṇṇabhumī; Burmese: သုဝဏ္ဏဘူမိ, Khmer: Sovannaphum, Thai: สุวรรณภูมิ, RTGS: Suwannaphum) is the name of a land mentioned in many ancient sources such as the Chronicle of Sri Lanka ("Mahavamsa"), some stories of the Jatakas, and Milinda Panha. Literally, this name means "Golden Land" or "Land of Gold", and might be a region named "Aurea Regio" in "India beyond the Ganges" of Claudius Ptolemy.

There is a common misunderstanding that the Edicts of Ashoka mention this name. The truth is the Edicts relate only the Kings' names and never reference Suwannaphum in the text. Moreover, all of the Kings referenced in the text reigned their cities in the region that located beyond the Sindhu to the west. The misunderstanding might come from a mixing of the story of Ashoka sending his Buddhist missionaries to Suwannaphum in "Mahavamsa" and his Edicts.